A Tribute to the VW Bus

In fact, all Volkswagen buses are great, especially the early models T1 and T2. Functional, simple and very beautiful. I’d like to emphasize the feeling of having huge space inside, despite the modest external dimensions. The comfort can be a little so-and-so. The seats are strictly functional. You are sitting pretty much upright. The sound level inside is not bad, due to the rear mounted engine. But a rear mounted, air cooled engine does not make the best foundation for heating up the cabin of a mini bus. Keeping the windows defrosted during the cold Nordic winters can be a challenge without the optional Ebersprächer heating system.

I remember the old VW buses from my own childhood. They were popular as commercial vans, family cars for large families and households who wanted a combined company car and passenger car. When they had finished their service, many were driven into the woods or on a ground where they were left to rust and slowly transformed to moss.

Even as rusty wrecks, the T1 and T2 are beautiful cars. Today, old wrecks are dragged out of the Nordic forests to be renovated and repaired on the Continent by people with plenty of time and money and a burning love for VW buses. It might be profitable, too, as vintage VW buses can be traded at ridiculous high prices. They are valued according to the number of windows. The more windows, the higher the price.

Every year, many of the world’s finest VW buses make a visit to VolksWorld at Sandown Park racecourse in Esher, Surrey. I was there last year and took the pictures in the gallery at the top of the page. In 2018 the event will be held 24-25 March. All green areas are transformed into a large camping area where owners of VW buses can stay overnight. Many of the visitors are coming over from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.

Ratlook, slammed, pristine – all are equally fine. I always take pictures of T1s and T2s, both at exhibitions and along the road. I have only one concern, though. I see a lot more buses than pickups. Where have all the VW pickups gone? I fear that many of them have ended up as donor cars for bus projects.